Engagement Fellowship at the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting

In partnership with the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, the 12-month Illinois Humanities Engagement Fellowship deepens our efforts to strengthen connections and build collaboration between journalists and the communities they cover throughout the state of Illinois.
Photo courtesy of Darrell Hoemann/The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting

Program Description

The Illinois Humanities Engagement Fellowship aims to foster high-quality investigative journalism that’s driven by public engagement with stakeholder communities throughout Illinois. During a 12-month residency at the Champaign, IL-based Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, our Fellow will work to incorporate the voices, experiences and perspectives of Illinois residents more deeply into the Center’s work. Through a series of listening events, public conversations, and other activities, our Fellow’s goal is to work with Illinoisans to investigate issues that matter to them.

2017 Fellow

Anna Casey is a graduate of Knox College in Galesburg, IL, and received her master’s degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin in the spring of 2017. Her bylines have appeared in Kaiser Health News and Refinery29 News, as well as local outlets. She was an intern at Austin’s NPR affiliate, where she produced stories for Texas Standard, a daily news program that airs across the state. Prior to graduate school, Anna served as an AmeriCorps VISTA and later worked at the Livestrong Foundation in Austin. During graduate school, Anna served as an editorial assistant at the Center for News Excellence and Engagement. Anna is eager to return to the Midwest to collaborate with community members to produce journalism that serves them and spotlights issues for a national audience.

The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting

The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting is an independent, nonprofit newsroom devoted to educating the public about crucial issues in the Midwest with a special focus on agribusiness and related topics such as government programs, environment and energy.

Started in 2009 by journalist Mike Sherry, the Center provides training and education for students, professional journalists and citizens to better understand agribusiness and its impact locally, regionally and globally. The Center also uses both traditional and innovative digital tools and techniques to analyze data about agribusiness and distribute the results.

Partners

Funders

Program Coordinator

Illinois Humanities respects the privacy of its audiences and will at no time sell or distribute personal information to any party not directly affiliated with Illinois Humanities and its programs.

Illinois Humanities is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Illinois General Assembly [through the Illinois Arts Council Agency], as well as by contributions from individuals, foundations and corporations.

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed by speakers, program participants, or audiences do not necessarily reflect those of the NEH, Illinois Humanities, our partnering organizations or our funders.